Chapter 3 - Exposed in Gold and Glass
Lucas stared at the file on the desk, his hands visibly shaking as he adjusted his silk tie.
"Ethan, listen to me," Lucas pleaded, leaning forward, his tone turning desperate. "She's a bitter ex-girlfriend trying to extort me! She's crazy. She's been trying to ruin my reputation for months because I ended things—"
"She didn't come to me, Lucas," Ethan said, standing up slowly and walking around his desk. "I went to her. Or rather, a wrong-number text message brought me to her door at midnight while her seven-month-old baby was starving because you blocked her employment applications."
Lucas gasped, his eyes darting frantically around the room. "You... you went to her apartment?"
"I bought her formula," Ethan said coldly. "I held your daughter while she drank from a bottle because her mother couldn't afford a five-dollar can after paying thousands in medical bills that you abandoned."
Lucas stood up abruptly, knocking his chair back a few inches. "That child isn't mine! She was born premature, she has medical issues—I am not paying for a broken child, Ethan! It would destroy my standings in the city! My family's reputation—"
CLACK.
The sound of the frosted glass door sliding open made Lucas cut his sentence short.
I stepped out of the nursery suite, holding Sophie tightly against my chest. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes—the exact same eyes Lucas had—looked straight at the man in the navy suit.
Lucas took a sharp step back, his eyes bulging as he looked at me and the baby.
"Hello, Lucas," I said, my voice steady, stripped of all the fear and shame I had carried for seven long months. "She's not a broken child. She's strong, she's alive, and she's mine."
"Elena..." Lucas whispered, sweat glistening on his forehead. "What are you doing here? Ethan, she's setting a trap—"
"Shut up, Lucas," Ethan commanded smoothly. He turned to me, his gaze softening for a moment before returning to his COO with pure disgust. "You are relieved of your duties as Chief Operating Officer of Cole Industries, effective immediately."
Lucas stared at Ethan in absolute horror. "You're firing me?! Over a personal matter?! I own three percent of the company's private stock! I will sue you for breach of contract!"
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"You will do no such thing," Ethan replied calmly, pulling a second document from his jacket. "This is a full forensic report of the emergency equity cash-out you requested last month for your 'ailing aunt.' You embezzled four hundred thousand dollars from the corporate charity fund, Lucas. I can file criminal fraud charges with the district attorney within ten minutes, or you can sign over your equity shares directly into a court-monitored trust fund for Sophie’s medical care and education."
Lucas looked from the document to Ethan's uncompromising face, then to me. He realized, in one terrifying moment, that his kingdom of cards had completely collapsed.
